Armor fabric.



J. A. ZEMAN.

ARMOR FABRIO. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 9, 1909.

Patented Mar. 22, 1910.

g C/@ 0? Zefiffayzy i all whom it may concern:

UNITED STAT PATENT @FFEQE.

' JOSEPH A. ZEMAN, OF TOBIAS, NEBRASKA.

ABMOR FABRIC.

Be it known that I, JosErH A. ZEMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing .at Tobias, in the county of Saline andStateof Nebraskmhaveinvented new and usefullmprovements in Armor Fabric, of'whichthefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to new land-useful improvements in armor fabricsfor pneumatic tires and more particularly to that type ofconstructionwhichembod-ies a. series of interconnected .a-rmor plates, theconnecting devices having such construction and relation that theresultant product is a flexible metallic armor fabric.

' ()ne object of the present invention is to provide an armor fabricwhich shall be read- -ily applicable to tires of different standarddiameters and widths. In a number of the known constructions therelation of the parts is such that the fabric is applicable to only onesize tire; that is to say, the fabric when used upon a tire ofgivensize, Will fit the tread thereof smoothly and evenly, but when itis attempted to use :thefabric u on a tire of larger or smaller size,the fa ric will not fit the tire smoothly and evenly but, in the case ofa small tire, will be too loose and in the case of a large tire, its fitwill be irregular and buckling.

The construction of the present armor fabric is such that it may beaptly termed self-adjusting, since the parts adjust themselves to properpositions with relation to one another, in accordance with the size ofthe tire upon which the fabric is placed and the armor as an entiretyfits smoothly and evenly on the tire without looseness or buckling. 4

A further object of the invention is the provision of an armor fabric inwhich the parts thereof may be inexpensively produced from sheet metalwithout a waste of material. Theparts so produced shall be hereinafterreferred to as armor units.

-An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Figure 1 is an elevation showing the fabric applied toa tire; Fig. 2 is a cross section of a tire with the fabric thereon;Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of the fabric; Figs. 4' and 5 arediagramsshowing the manner in which the armor units may be formed fromstrips of sheet material.

Similar characters of reference designate Specification. of LettersPatent.

Application filed December .9,;;1909.

Patented Mar. 22,1910.

Serial .No. 532,148.

.corresponding parts throughout the several .views. v

The improved armor fabric cons sts essentially of armor units andconnectmg devices therefor. These. units are arranged in circumferentialrows,-the units of the central row being diamond-shaped and designatedby the numeral 1, and the .units. of the rows onv each side. of thecentral row bei g of triangu-larshape and designated by the numeral 2.The mutually adjacent units of each row are connected to one another andto the adjacent units .of the row on each side thereof, by rings, as 3,which are .also of triangular shape. Theapices of the units areoverturned so .as toafford hooks 4, which engage over thest-raight sidesof the rings 3. :The outermost line of hooks 4 at each side of thefabric engage over the retaimng rings, .as .5, by which'the fabric as anenti-rety is. secured upon the tread of the tire, the rings 5being ofgeneral annular form and being preferably convoluted, as shown in Fig.l. The armor fabric thus constructedhas a. smooth surface and a roughsurface. The rough surface is the one which presents the hooks 4 and theconnecting rings, and the smooth surface is the one which presentssimply the smooth faces of the armor units. The fabric is placed uponthe tire with its smooth surface against the tread face of the tire andits rough surface exposed. This rough surface is effective in resistingskidding and the fabric therefore has a two-fold character; that is tosay, it is both an armoring and an anti-skidding device.

Owing to the form of the armor units, they may be Very easily andinexpensively produced by shearing the-same from strips or plates ofsheet metal, Fig. 4: showing a strip of sheet metal and indicating byparallel dotted lines, the shearing lines of the diamond-shaped units 1,and Fig. 5 showing a strip of sheet metal and indicating by angularlydisposed dotted lines, the shearing lines of the triangular units 2.Aside from the cheapness with which the units may be produced, theirparticular form is of advantagein that it provides for the readyformation of the necessary retaining hooks, these, as stated, beingafforded by simply overturnin the apex portions of the units.

It will e observed that, the connecting rings 3 have straight sidesand'that the walls of the hooks 4 are also straight. The

straight sides of the connect ng rings are of materially greater lengththan the walls of.

the hooks and consequently, some degree of slidable play betweentheirings and the units hooked thereto is provided for. The

lay thus provided for is utilized changmg the fabric from a tire of onesize to a 'lation to one another as to fit evenly and ,smoothlyagainstthe tire upon which the fabric is placed. For example, by reference toFig. 1, it will be observed that the upper hooks of the-units arepositioned practicall at the lower'corners ofthe rings to whic saidunitsare secured. If the fabric is placed upon a tire of greater width anddiameter than that shown in Fig. 1, the said upper hooks of the unitswill position themselves at points farther removed from the lowercorners of the connecting rings. It is on account of this characteristicthat the fabric is termed self-adjusting.

In the example shown, the diamondshaped units have the hooks 4 formedonly at the corners'which are farthest removed from one another, but thetriangular-shaped units have the hooks formed at all corners. The spacesbetween the mutually adjacent units as well as the spaces withintheconfines of the connectingrings are shown in the drawings of greaterrelative proportions than will be the-case in actual practice. In actualpractice they will be comparatively'slight, so slight in fact, that thepossibility "of aprojection entering therein rather than engagingagainst the armored area, is reduced to a minimum and, in fact,even-though a projection were to enter any oftthe open spaces, it wouldbe deflected by the units during the rapid movement of the tire beforeit could result ina uncture.

Having fully described my mvention, I claim:

1. An armor fabric comprising rows of triangular armor units havingoverturned apex portions, and triangular rings connecting the mutuallyadjacent units of each row and of adjacent rows, said overturned apexportions being engaged over theg of each row and of the rows adjacentthere-- to, the said apex ortions being engaged over the straight si esof the rings,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

. JOSEPH A. ZEMAN. Witnesses:

-F. O. KUcERo, -JOHN BARTLE.

lar-shaped, the units having

